George henry grundy



(No Model) G. H. GRUNDY 81: G. A. LINGARD. DEVICE FOR DEGORATING TILES 0R PLANE SURFACES.

.(;303,137. Patented Apr. 26, 1898. (9'1.

g g 2 ,Q ATTORN we Mmms vzrcns co. woro-ummwmwnsm a c UNITED STATES PATENT rricn.

GEORGE HENRY GRUNDY, OF DERBY, AND GEORGE ARTHUR LINGARD, OF OLD NORMANTON, ENGLAND.

DEVICE FOR DECORATING TILES OR PLANE SURFACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,137, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed November 24, 1896. Serial No. 613,313. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, Gnonen HENRY GRUN- DY, photo-engraver and collotype-printer, of 27 Duffield road, Derby, and GEORGE AR- THUR LINGARD, collotype-printer, of Mount Pleasant, Old Normanton, near Derby, England, have invented new and useful Im provements in Devices forDecorating Tiles, Plates, or other Plane Hard Surfaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention has for its object the decoration of tiles and other flat-surfaced articles; and it consists in certain construction of the printing apparatus whereby the printing may be done in a direct manner by the photocollgraphic process without the use of trans fers.

The invention will be first described, and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of the specification, in which- Figure 1 is a part vertical section showing the collotype-film, its elastic support, and metal backing-plate as mounted on the bed of the press. Fig. 2 is a section through the tile fixed to the platen. Fig. 3 is aface View of the device for securing the tile upon the platen of the press; and Fig. e is a cross-section on line 44 of Fig. 3,the tile being omitted.

A film of bichromatized gelatin is spread upon an elastic or resilient support formed of vulcanized india-rubber mounted upon such arigid surface as a machine-planed metal bed or backing.

Referring to the drawings, the elastic support for the gelatin film A is composed of two qualities of rubber, an upper layer B, upon which the gelatin is applied and formed of a sheet of white vulcanized india-rubber about one-sixteenth of an inch thick, said upper layer being united by cementing to a substratum of softer and more elastic vulcanized rubber 0 about one-quarter of an inch thick, so as to obtain elasticity or yielding under compression without such an amount of superficial extensibility of the film as would cause spreading and blurring of the picture. The thin superficial layer of india-rubber is white in order that the inking-up of the picture may be visible to the workman and is of rather common non-elastic quality and is somewhat dense or hard in order that it shall not be too extensible and shall be devoid of air-bells in its structure, so as to admit of being very smooth surfaced with sandpaper without becoming stringy when a film is cleaned 0d for the purpose of coating the rubber for use again. This thin superficial layer of rubber B is cemented upon a thicker substratum of better quality rubber C, which is vulcanized onto a canvas backing, which in turn is cemented to the smooth-surfaced supporting-plate D by means of a solution of gelatin and bichromate of potash. The bichromatized gelatin film A is spread on this elastic support as in the ordinary collotype process, but is rather thicker than the ordinary collotype-film. The film having been spread upon the elastic support is then dried in a collotype drying-oven at about 125 Fahrenheit, after which it is exposed under a reversed photographic negative, the exposure being timed by actinometer. It is then washed well and dried in a warm room. After it has been dry for about eight hours it is mounted in a printing-press of the oscillating-platen type, the metal backing of the film being screwed or otherwise secured immovably to the type-bed E of the press, provision being made for holding both the plate and the tile so that repeated impressions maybe made upon the same tile without loss of register. The collotype-plate is then etched in the usual way and rolled up with ink composed of vitrifiable pottery color in a suitable medium.

The tile F is secured to the platen J of the press in such manner that it is held immovable in position in order that repeated impressions may be pulled upon the same tile without loss of register, the collotype-plate being inked afresh after each impression until sufficientink has been thus deposited upon the tile, this being necessary in order that the picture may withstand the action of the subsequent glazing and firing. The tile is locked up in the manner of a form of type in a chase or frame K, screwed to the platen, provision being made to prevent the displacement of the tile by the suctionof the collotype printingsurface. For this purpose the sides of the frame are undercut or gibbed, as at k is, to receive the ends of a sliding stick L, having tenoned ends arranged to slide in the undercut grooves 70 7c and being locked up against the edge of the tile by quoins m m; or other means may be adopted for retaining the tiles. In order to avoid the breakage of the tile, it is backed up by a suitable backing, such as a sheet of rubber 11, upon the platen covered by a layer of cardboard G, against which the tile rests. The tile having been printed is then hardened onthat is to say, it receives a firing in the kiln to burn out all the oil in the color, so that the bisque tile will absorb the glaze when dipped. The tile is; then dipped and fired again at a much higher temperature. The mode of operation is similar for other plane hard surfaces.

The pictures produced by this apparatus and mode of operation are sufficiently strongf and vigorous to obviate the necessity for hand-painting or Workingup by hand in any way and is much less costly than the dustingon and the substitution processes: now practiced.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat-' ent, is

1. The combination with a photocollotype printing-film for direct photocollotype printing on tiles or other plane hard surfaces, of an elastic support composed of two layers of vulcanized india-rubber of difierent qualities cemented together, one of which is a thin up per layer of dense non-elastic rubber and upon which the photocollotype-film is spread and the other being a thicker substratum of elastic rubber, and a smooth-surfaced rigid backingplate for said elastic support, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a photocollotype printing-film for direct photocollotype printing on tiles or other plane hard surfaces, of an elastic support upon which the photocollotype-film is spread, and a smooth-surfaced backing-plate, theelastic support being composed of two layers of vulcanized india-rubber of different qualities cemented together,

namely, a thin upper layer upon which the film is spread and formed of dense non-elastic rubber, and a thicker substratum of elastic rubber cemented to the backing-plate, sub stantially as specified.

GEORGE HENRY GRUNDY. GEORGE ARTHUR LINGARD. In presence of- O. R. B. Ennowns, WILLIAM FORDHAM. 

